Parents' Lack Of Self-control Can Hurt Kids

BERCAW

July 29, 1996|by KATHLEEN BERCAW, The Morning Call

You know the feeling.

You're driving along, eyes peeled to the road, and someone pulls out in front of you. Not only are your thoughts about winning the lottery or your coming root canal rudely interrupted, but you must quickly apply the brakes.

Because this unplanned interlude is a major shock -- one that, in fact, can cause a tragedy -- your primal response is anger. Maybe you lay on the horn, inquire about the wretched driver's vision or even call the careless so-and-so a naughty name.

But if you're the more excitable type, as police allege Erik Torres was last Monday, you don't settle for anything that sophisticated. Torres, 25, of Easton, was a passenger with his toddler son and girlfriend in a car driven by a Forks Township youth.

As their car was cruising along Bushkill Drive, police said, a car driven by 17-year-old Joseph Kowal cut them off by pulling out from Arndt Road and crossing Bushkill Drive smack dab in front of them.

Torres and the juvenile, who weren't satisfied with a blast of the horn, wanted something more, police said. We're talking more machismo than Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Tyson -- all in one furious rage.

It was reported that as Forks Township residents Kowal and his passenger, Douglas Geer, 17, proceeded to Northampton Crossings, so did you-know-who. Within minutes, several Wal-Mart shoppers wound up being spectators at the parking lot pummeling that followed.

According to Colonial Regional Police Detective Roy Seiple, "The witnesses were flabbergasted. Most of them were women who were really afraid, stunned. Some thought (Torres) had a gun. They didn't know what to do." What they saw, accord-

ing to Seiple, was Torres and the juvenile driver dragging Kowal out of the car. It isn't clear who threw the first punch, Seiple said, but they saw Torres elbow Kowal in the face as Kowal desperately tried to get away.

"Witnesses said Torres picked up Kowal's head and slammed it into the car," Seiple said. "I mean really slammed it, leaving a dent in the car. At one point, Torres had Kowal's head flattened on the ground and was just stomping on him. Kowal was defenseless. He tried to get away but couldn't."

One witness said Torres also grabbed Geer, punched him and ripped his nose ring and earring out. A witness called the police as Kowal and Geer lay helpless and Torres and company sped away, police said.

Witnesses' descriptions of the car helped police track it on Palmer Township's S. 25th Street, police said, but the Torres vehicle attempted a brilliant getaway by making a U-turn and heading the opposite way. The action-packed scene ended as another Palmer officer pulled in front of the Torres car. A few miles away, MedEvac was flying the unconscious Kowal to Lehigh Valley Hospital Center.

But Torres apparently didn't have his wits about him yet. Officers said they had to wrestle macho-macho man to the ground to arrest him.

My first question for Seiple: Was this really over a traffic tiff or was something more involved? "It was all about somebody cutting Torres off. He didn't think somebody should have done that with his son in the car," he said.

Northampton County Public Defender Charles Gordon said Torres had to slam on his brakes to avoid Kowal's car, skidded off the road and hit a log. "He was very shaken that this happened while his son was in the car. (Kowal) didn't even stop."

Gordon said his client is not a bad guy. "He was afraid for his son. He was just frightened."

Being frightened over injury to a loved one is natural. But it's equally scary to imagine the wounds parents inflict on their children through their lack of self-control.

If police charges against Torres -- ranging from aggravated assault to corruption of minors -- are proved true, Torres might take a look at raising his tolerance level.

And then he can hope his toddler didn't see how Daddy acts when he's "just frightened."